Carlos Alcaraz calls focusing on rankings ‘wrong thing to do’ after losing chance to dethrone Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz couldn’t take advantage of Jannik Sinner’s three-month absence, but he now has a chance to overtake Alexander Zverev for the No. 2 spot.
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Carlos Alcaraz (Image via @alcarchive)
World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz lately has been at the receiving end of criticism for not using the opportunity he got from Jannik Sinner‘s doping ban. The Italian was banned for three months due to his doping case and it was a golden chance for both Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev to either reduce the rankings gap or dethrone the World No.1.
Neither Alcaraz nor Zverev were successful in doing the same. Sinner only lost points because of not participating in tournaments. Alcaraz, since winning the Rotterdam Open, did make deep runs but failed to win the title; while Zverev failed to win more than two matches in the six tournaments he played since his Australian Open final defeat to Sinner.
He entered the clay swing without winning a title in the Sunshine Double for the first time since 2021. In the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters, Alcaraz moved into the quarterfinals, and ahead of his match against Arthur Fils, the Spaniard, who previously said the pressure of removing Sinner from the top “killed” him, said he would rather focus on his performance and forget about the rankings.
I’ve been paying attention to the ranking, to the stats, and I think it’s the wrong thing to do. Right now, I realize that I have to just play right now because I love playing tennis, I love stepping on the court, just putting on a show, just showing good tennis, forget about the ranking, forget about everything.
Carlos Alcaraz told Tennis Channel
Sinner sits on the top with 9,930 points in the live rankings. He lost 400 points because he was the semifinalist in last year’s event in The Principality. Zverev and Alcaraz have 7,595 and 6,920 points, respectively.
If the four-time Grand Slam champion wins the title in Monte Carlo, he will replace the German as the World No.2 as Zverev suffered a shock defeat to Matteo Berrettini in his opening round. The three-time Grand Slam champion, whose ban will end on May 4, will be making his comeback at the Italian Open, which starts on May 7.
Carlos Alcaraz predicts a difficult match against Arthur Fils
Arthur Fils is the only player so far in the season to have reached the quarterfinals of all three Masters 1000 tournaments. At Indian Wells, he suffered a three-set defeat to Daniil Medvedev; while in the Miami Open, eventual champion Jakub Mensik knocked him out in straight sets.
Fils will be meeting Carlos Alcaraz for the first time in his career. Ahead of their clash, Alcaraz said is expecting a tough match against the 20-year-old.
Probably struggling a little bit in the last one, but coming on clay, which is a surface I love playing on and the surface I grew up playing on…it’s great to feel it again. I’m playing a quarterfinal here for the first time. It’s gonna be difficult against Arthur Fils, who’s playing great tennis lately. He’s having a great season so far.
Carlos Alcaraz said during his on-court interview after beating Daniel Altmaier
Alcaraz progressed to his first quarterfinal at the Monte Carlo Masters after beating Francisco Cerundolo and Daniel Altmaier. He has skipped the last two editions of the Monte Carlo Masters due to injuries. In his maiden appearance in 2022, the 21-year-old suffered an early exit as Sebastian Korda beat him in his opening round.
Last year on the clay swing, Alcaraz lifted his maiden French Open and took home the silver medal at the Paris Olympics after straight-set defeat to Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz has so far won eight titles on clay, which is more than what he won on hard-courts and on grass. He has not yet won a Masters 1000 title since winning last year’s Indian Wells by beating Medvedev.
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